UNIT 3 LESSON 2
12/16/15
SWBAT: EXPLAIN WHY BIOLOGISTS
CLASSIFY LIVING THINGS AND HOW THEY
ARE ORGANIZED.
INITIAL ACTIVITY: MY PLANET DIARY
 Read
“Birds of a Feather”
 Answer
the following questions on the
worksheet
1. What did Roxie Laybourne invent?
2. Why was her invention so important?
WHY DO BIOLOGISTS CLASSIFY ORGANISMS
 Living
things are grouped together based
on similar features or traits. This process
is called Classification.

The study of how organisms are classified
is known as Taxonomy.
WHO WAS LINNAEUS?
 Linnaeus,
a French Scientist, developed a new
way to group and name organisms in the 1730’s.
**It is still used today!**
 He
observed organisms to find similar features or
structures. (Structure is the way things are
shaped or formed)
 Linnaeus
created the system called binomial
nomenclature. This is the two name system
known as the Scientific Name of an organism
BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE

Two Words Naming System
First Word- Genus: group of similar species
 Second Word- Species: a group of similar
organisms that can mate with each other and
produce offspring that can also grow to mate
and reproduce.

Example:
 Common Name: Tiger Salamander
 Scientific Name: Ambystoma tigrinum
A complete scientific name is written in italics and only the
first word is capitalized.
LEVELS OF CLASSIFICATION
*Domain is missing
from this
classification
breakdown.
Same Classification
System but the Triangle
is flipped!
TOOLS FOR IDENTIFYING ORGANISMS
 Taxonomic
Key: A detailed list of features
used to identify an unknown organism.
 Organisms
can be broken up into groups
based on yes or no questions on traits or
features.
 These
can only be used for OBSERVABLE
characteristics (physical traits) that an
organism has.
ACTIVITY!
 Identify
the creatures from the worksheet
using a dichotomous key.
 Try
to correctly identify all the organisms given
to you.
HOMEWORK DUE THURSDAY 12/17/15!
 Create
your own dichotomous key!
(See the example for more help)